Emil Node: Inspiration

(LEFT) Unknown Master, Italian - Crucifix with the Stories of the Passion (detail) - around 1200 - Tempera on wood - Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence - (RIGHT) Emil Nolde - Crucifixion - 1912 - Oil on canvas - 220.5 x 193.5 cm - (87 x 76.2 in) - Nolde-Stiftung Seebull - Berlin, Germany (click photo for larger image)The German Expressionist Emil Nolde (1867-1956), was deeply moved by the both the appearance and content of medieval art. Looking at the medieval work on the left, we see no attention paid to formal considerations such as scale, perspective and anatomical integrity. Most of the people in the painting are taller than the cross. But that doesn’t matter. The work is moving and powerful by virtue of its color and design. What would become the concerns of the Renaissance weren’t important in the Middle Ages. And this approach—on all levels—is what appealed to Emil Nolde. Nolde was a deeply religious artist…and also part of an art movement occurring at a time when Germany was isolated. The German Expressionists’ take on modernism was not quite so optimistic as the work coming out of Paris at the time. The anguish we see in both interpretations of this subject matter is palpable. All of the figures are simplified. It is not only what the artists show, but how they show it that causes us to react emotionally. And of course the subject matter is serious and somber. Now, Nolde has integrated the lessons of modernism and influences other than the medieval into his work. In this work, for example—one can see the color influence of Matisse and other Fauve painters, as well as the modernists’ fascination with African masks. Nevertheless, medieval work long ignored found itself reincarnated in the 20th century. 

The Medieval Picasso

(LEFT) Cimabue - Crucifix (detail) - 1268-71 - Tempera on wood, 336 x 267 cm - (132.3 x 105.1 in) San Domenico, Arezzo - (RIGHT) Pablo Picasso, Farm Woman, 1908, Oil on canvas - 81 x 65.5 cm - (31.9 x 25.8 in) - The State Hermitage, Museum - St. Petersburg, Russia (click photo for larger image)

For those of us who are educators—it’s critical to instill in our students the great importance of the arts as a continuum. How do we guide others to connect the past to the present—and ultimately the future—in meaningful, resourceful ways? How do we drive home the point that much of the “traditional” in the arts was—at one time—“experimental”? Great artists over time have understood that the masters of the past are their mentors—their colleagues—their friends. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was an artist who was a sponge—meaning that he absorbed everything from the past, as well as from contemporaries, and incorporated those lessons into his own visual language. In this case, his inspiration was the last of the great Byzantine style painters—Cimabue (1240-1302)—who linear approach to art, combined with pathos—perfectly suited this particular phase in Picasso’s art.

The Middle Ages: A Literal World

(click photo for larger image) (click photo for larger image)The thousand-year-long period that began with the Fall of the Roman Empire and subsided during the Renaissance is referred to as “The Middle Ages” or the “medieval period”. This was a remarkable civilization, and a very literal one! The devil, for example, was a very real creature (usually red or black) with pointed ears and a long tail. Hell wasn’t a metaphor or an idea--it was a real place filled with fire, monsters and suffering, where the wicked would be punished for eternity. The stories of the Bible and the Saints were not viewed as parables or object lessons. Again--they were taken very literally. To the medieval mindset, there was an actual Garden of Eden--with Adam, Eve and a Serpent--and Jonah was literally swallowed by a large fish. As such, the medievals produced some of the most creative and imaginative works in the history of art. What’s more, medieval imagery has had a far greater impact on modern and contemporary art than the works created during the Renaissance and subsequent periods. Although Mannerism definitely influenced modernism, as well, the impact of medieval art is far greater.

Mosque Conversion Raises Alarm

A unique ensemble of 13th-century Christian paintings, sculpture and architecture (click photo for larger image)Christian art located in the famous Byzantine church, Hagia Sophia--now a museum, is now at risk after a controversial court ruling that will result in the structure’s becoming a mosque.

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Let us hope that the wonders of this marvelous location are not lost forever.

An Early Expressionist--Rogier van der Weyden

Rogier van der Weyden - Bladelin Triptych - 1445-50 - Oil on oak panel, 91 x 89 cm (centre panel), 91 x 40 cm (each wing) - Staatliche Museen, Berlin (click photo for larger image)Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Lady - c. 1455 - Oil on oak panel, 37 x 27 cm - National Gallery of Art, Washington (click photo for larger image)Rogier van der Weyden (born 1399/1400, Tournai, France - died June 18, 1464, Brussels) was a Flemish painter who was the most influential northern European artist of his time--with the exception of Jan van Eyck.

Rogier was born into a rising middle class--and documentation exists that suggests he received a university education. He didn’t begin painting until the ripe old age of 27!

In his later life, Rogier received numerous vast commissions and was the head of his own large workshop. His work has had an enormous inpact on subsequent generations of artists--in part for its expressionistic qualities that do not rely on the inclusion of enormous technical details.